Pep will risk De Bruyne on the dodgy Wembley pitch
PEP Guardiola says he will have no hesitation in playing Kevin de Bruyne on a dodgy Wembley pitch on Monday.
The City midfielder made his first start since the opening day of the season when he played against Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine on Tuesday night.
There are concerns about the Belgium star, who was out for two months with a lateral collateral ligament injury, the second time he has had that problem in two years.
But Guardiola said that the condition of the surface for the Spurs game will not be a factor when he chooses his team.
The match takes place just 26 hours after Jacksonville Jaguars take on Philadelphia Eagles at the national stadium, leaving Wembley groundstaff with precious little time to get the pitch playable again.
The match had to be switched to Wembley because Spurs’ new White Hart Lane stadium has taken longer to complete than expected - and was then put back by a day due to the NFL fixture. Asked whether the state of the pitch would inform his decision on whether to play De Bruyne, the manager suggested he would not:
“When they are fit, we have full focus on what we have to do,” he said. “When you take care properly and focus, knowing that the pitch may not be in the best condition and you have to be ready. We are going to take a decision which is the best line up and we are going to see.”